Product category:
Inkjet, Laser, Digital, Thermal, Graphics, Wide Format Printing Systems
News Release from: MacDermid ColorSpan | Subject: Colorspan 5400uv UV inkjet printers range
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 February 2007
Multi-Function Inkjet Printers' Output
Durability
MacDermid Colorspan has unveiled its newest line of multi-functional UV inkjet printers, the Colorspan 5400uv.
MacDermid Colorspan has unveiled its newest line of multi-functional UV inkjet printers, the Colorspan 5400uv The Colorspan 5400uv series is a family of four printers based on what is claimed to be a completely new product design
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 29 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Starting at a recommended US recommended price of US$54,995, the four models consist of the Colorspan 5440uv (four-colour), Colorspan 5445uv (two by four-colour), Colorspan 5460uv six-colour) and the Colorspan 5465uv (two by six-colour).
All four models have a 54-inch (137cm) print width and feature a set of integrated tables that fold up and can extend outward to accommodate rigid media in excess of eight feet (244cm) in length.
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The tables fold down and out of the way for printing on roll-fed media, whilst conserving floor space, said the company.
The Colorspan 5400uv series is said to use the latest generation variable drop volume piezo-electric printheads.
Each industrial-quality, extended-life printhead can eject variable-sized micro droplets to achieve addressable resolutions of 600 dots per inch (dpi) x 300dpi, 600dpi x 600dpi and 1,200dpi x 600dpi.
The 5460uv and 5465uv six-colour models achieve even higher apparent image quality - up to 1,800dpi.
MacDermid Autospan claimed that the Colorspan 5400uv series is designed for operator simplicity and the machines use a patent-pending self-maintaining printhead service station that fully maintains the health of the jets and printheads whilst idle or in service.
The design eliminates any need to manually clean the printheads and ensures that the printer is always ready to print, even after an extended idle time, said the company.
Bruce Butler, director of marketing at MacDermid Autopan, said: "As producers of the best selling UV printers in the world, we've learned a lot from our customers.
We listened to what they like and their suggestions for improvements and built that in to our design criteria for the Colorspan 5400uv series.
We have combined the best features of various inkjet technologies in one product that is compact in design, yet big on performance." Butler went on to say: "The Colorspan 5400uv series of printers gives you 1,200dpi to 1,800dpi image quality for point of purchase POP applications, yet has an outdoor display life that rivals, and in some cases, exceeds solvent printers.
Its innovative flatbed and roll-fed design and the ability to print directly on to nearly any material, makes it the next logical step for those needing to upgrade their HP 5500s and want to skip past the problems and high costs associated with mild solvent and eco-solvent printers." The printer's operator control interface uses a seven-inch colour touch-screen display panel.
Its graphical user interface is said to be simple to use and the printer's status (such as ink levels, print quality settings, UV lamp status and media configuration) are visible at a glance.
The printer also uses a media thickness sensor and precision motor-driven mechanisms to automatically adjust the printhead height to accommodate a wide range of materials up to one-inch (25.4mm) thick.
Due to its precision, there is no need to perform bi-di calibrations between material changes, claimed the company.
Designed as a production sign system, the Colorspan 5445uv and 5465uv use two piezo-electric printheads per colour.
The printers have a top print speed of 388 square feet (36 square metres) per hour in their 600dpi x 600dpi billboard quality print mode or their 600dpi x 300dpi production quality print mode.
The Colorspan 5440uv and 5460uv using one printhead per colour are one-half the speed of the other two models.
Extended gamut, UV-curable, pigmented Solachrome inks for the printers are available in cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan and light magenta.
Each comes in a sealed one-litre container that allows for no-mess ink changes, whilst protecting the ink from light exposure.
Solachrome-UV inks, which have no solvent odours, are designed for reliable jetting, low maintenance, extended head life, low cost of operation and long-term outdoor display life of two to three years unprotected and up to seven years using Avery cast vinyl and digital over laminates, said Macdermid Autospan.
Solachrome-UV inks cure instantly and print directly on inexpensive uncoated rigid and flexible substrates for durable, indoor and outdoor graphic applications, added the company.
The Advanced Automation Eye, whcih is only found on Colorspan printers, consists of an imaging sensor, colourimetric spectrophotometer and embedded software to automate the set-up and calibration steps critical for achieving and maintaining print quality, added the company.
The systems' Autoset Calibration analyses dot placement of printed patterns and automatically sets the head-to-head alignment and bi-directional (bi-di) dot placement alignment to compensate for variable print speeds, head height settings and media thickness.
Autojet Calibration eliminates banding in prints and extends the useful life of the printheads by mapping out an individual jet that is not up to performance standards and compensating by using another jet in its place.
The Autotune Scheduler schedules the Autojet calibration to occur during long unattended print runs to ensure maximum print quality and minimise waste or reprints, said MacDermid Colorspan.
At the same time, Auto Edge Detection uses the image sensor to aid in the loading of rigid materials by detecting right, left and leading edges, allowing the printer to move the material in to an exact position for printing.
The on-board spectrophotometer supplies colour data to the external RIP's colour management software.
The colour management system then adjusts the colour to ensure accurate and consistent colour.
Using the on-board spectrophotometer, the Colorspan 5400uv series prints and automatically reads hundreds of colour swatches to allow the RIP and colour management software to create custom ICC colour profiles for third party media, added the company.
With its claimed ability to print directly on to rigid display materials, the Colorspan 5400uv series of printers are ideal for sign makers, screen printers and other print-for-pay service providers that produce indoor and outdoor signs, and point-of-purchase and exhibition displays by greatly reducing their production, finishing and labour costs.
The printers provide double-duty with their ability to print on flexible roll stock for the high-speed production of outdoor signs, banners, in-store graphics, and other high volume work, said MacDermid Autospan.
The lack of solvents and other built-in safety features enable them to be operated in a normal office environment making them suitable for corporate and franchise operations.
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